Love, Save the Empty
by AdriDee
Summary: Previously known as: Love's Damaged Goods. Lois gives further insight as to why she's damaged goods when it comes to love. A special appearance from another DC character. A story between Pandora and Disciple. COMPLETE.
1. Meeting Mr Wayne

**TITLE**: "Love's Damaged Goods"

**SUMMARY**: Lois finally opens up to Clark about her past relationships, giving him a better understanding as to why she is so reluctant to take anything too fast with him.

**RATED**: PG-13

**PARING**: Clois; Lois and Lois/BW. ;-)

**NOTES**: So, I have been wondering why Lois is so hesitant with her relationship with Clark and what she really means with "**they** always run off" on her. Who are "they"? So far, in SV world, we have known that Wes Keenan was one of Lois Lane's first boyfriends--possibly her first which happened in grade school. AC Curry was shown to possibly be her first superhero boyfriend who walks out during the beginning of their relationship. And then there was Oliver Queen--her first adult relationship that happened when she was in her early twenties. AC and Oliver are more than likely part of that "they" since they both hurt Lois, but what of the rest? How many men broke her heart and contributed to her becoming such damaged goods? Yes, the General had a lot to do with it, but I'm talking more about romantic love. Then a thought came to me as I was reading a few comics…and then I wrote it out.

**TIMELINE**: **PRE**-"Disciple" (9x10), **POST**-"Pandora" (9x09). No worries. There's no real spoilers, in case you haven't seen the new episode yet.

**DISCLAIMER**: I DO NOOOOOOOT own ANYTHING…just a VERY proud obsession. :D

**SIDENOTES**: So, the _italics _part is basically Lois telling the story in her perspective.

* * *

It was a very lonely and quiet night along the big city. It seemed as if the burglars, rapists, and terrorists had decided to take a night off because everything was just completely peaceful. Walking along the boardwalk along the waters of Metropolis were only a handful of couples, one of them being Lois Lane and Clark Kent.

The movie they had just watched had finished and Clark had not been able to end his 4th date with his sassy co-worker. He too noticed the quiet and stillness of the night. His Blur duties were not needed at the moment and he wanted to take full advantage. Who knew when a night this perfect was going to come along again?

Clark turned towards the beautiful woman walking along his side. He saw her brown green eyes twinkling by the light of the moon, her cheeks giving a glamorous glow, and her dark hair blending exquisitely with the night. Looking at her made him breathless. It was a good thing that his body did not need oxygen because if that were the case, he would have fainted long ago just by looking at her.

"You're staring, Smallville," Lois accused.

He felt no guilt and it didn't feel as if she disliked the idea since she _was_ smirking a cocky grin, so he kept looking at her.

"_And_ you're grinning like a five-year-old," she said with a half-chuckle.

She was right, and he hadn't a clue until then. Funny, he felt himself smiling. For how long had he been doing it for? The last five minutes? The last hour? All night? How long had _she _noticed his grins?

If Lois would have "outted" him this same way just a few months ago, he was sure he would have been blushing right now out of embarrassment. His "farm boy" self would have felt unsure of how to handle this sort of Lois comment. However, there was no trace of shame of what he wad doing. He didn't feel guilty for staring at her and smiling at her and her catching him. He didn't care at all if they would have been walking along hundreds of people right now and all of them would have seen the intense stares he would give her constantly. He was sure of his feelings for Lois and was more than proud to show them.

Clark looked at the ground and let out a humorous smile. He didn't know why, but everything Lois said lately just made him grin. "Well, there's lots of beautiful things to grin over," he said with a low and seriousness flattery tone.

Even through the darkness of the night, he could see a slight blush appearing in her cheeks. She immediately lowered her head, her hair quickly covering her face from his so he was unable to see her cute blush anymore.

Every time he would make these sort of comments, she would get a blush and grow a bit uncomfortable. He wasn't sure if it was because she just didn't know how to take a romantic compliment or because she--unlike him--was unsure of the relationship they were in now.

If it was the latter, then he wanted to give her assuredness. He looked down at her empty hand gliding along the winter Metropolis air and reached for it. The moment his palm touched hers, it felt as if their hands took a mind of their own. As if they knew exactly what to do. Their fingers intertwined with one another. Their palms became one. They were one now.

The sense of it feeling so right and natural came to Clark as he felt their hands clinging to one another. However, it was very short lived. He suddenly felt her hand grow still and with great effort, she slipped her hand away from his. A sense of emptiness rushed through his palm and fingers.

She cleared her throat a little, shoving her fingers into her coat pockets and walking at a little faster pace.

He went after her, frowning. "Something wrong?" He stayed right at her side.

He saw her getting uncomfortable; she wouldn't look him in the eye. "A bit too much PDA, Smallville. Remember: slow."

He didn't hold back rolling his eyes. "Lois, it's not as if I'm a blind date and asking you back to my place for a little action. We've been friends for five years and this is us just holding hands. We _have_ been dating for a couple of weeks. I think our fingers touching is a green light now."

He hated sounding snappy or feeling irritated, but he couldn't help it. It wasn't as if he wanted to speed things up immediately between them. He _did_ mean it when he told her they should take their time with one another, but he felt that there were times--like now--that she was holding them back a little. He knew she felt as strongly for him as he did for her but wasn't positive if she was sure of his feelings for her. This had to be the reason why she was so hesitant and extremely careful.

"Maybe, but I don't want to take the chance of going too fast," she said softly.

Clark bit down a groan of irritation. "Lois, I'm all for us being cautious so everything can go right, but there is such a thing as being _too _cautious."

"For me there isn't when it comes to you. I'd rather take things as slow as possible. I don't want you running off on me," she said the last thing with the smallest voice.

He stopped on his tracks and turned to her, grabbing her arm and stopping her from walking away from him.

He heard her heart start beating a little faster. It was the kind of pace that it got when she was feeling worried. Over the course of the last year, he had picked up on the different kinds of rhythms her heart gave and how different they all sounded from one another. In the last few months, since she came back after those weeks of missing, his ears were more and more in tuned with her heart and caught on faster on distinguishing the differences between the beats and applying them to her current mood. At the moment, he could tell that the quickened beat her heart was in now meant that she was worried about something.

However, she kept her head high and refused to turn to him.

He stepped closer to her, filling in the gap between them, placed his palm on her cheek and turned her face to his.

There in her eyes, he saw the worry as well, along with doubt. It broke his heart that she couldn't trust and believe in this relationship working out. He was sure that if she could remember what happened between them in the future, she would have no doubt about it either.

Clark looked deep into her eyes and leaned closer to her. "I'm not running, Lois," he said with determination and honesty.

Her eyes grew a bit watery as he continued to stare at her. "I've been told that before."

His heart broke as he saw at her slightly breaking. Although they had been friends for quite some years now, he could count in one hand how many times she had let him see her vulnerable. And every time he saw her in this stage, made her feel more real to him.

He knew she had been through a lot in her youth, particularly with men. She had never had the best luck with them. Even though he only knew about her past relationship with Ollie and her short-lived romantic-fling with AC Curry, he still did not know about the previous men that had helped her built up a wall around herself. And he had never asked her about them. He wanted Lois to tell him because _she _wanted to. Wanted her to open up whenever she felt ready. He did not want to pressure her. But what he wanted most was for her to trust in everything he said, especially when it came to their relationship.

Several seconds passed as they looked at each other intently.

Lois finally broke eye contact and looked around and turned back to him, finally speaking. "It goes back to my senior year in high school. I think that relationship is one of the reasons why I seem to be so skeptical with men."

Clark just stood there, looking at her, not speaking. This was all up to her. How she wanted to open up to him and how much she was willing to share was all up to her. Her choice.

Lois got the message and looked around. Two sets of couples were coming their way. She grew stiff and continued to look around. Suddenly, she grabbed his coat arm and led him towards a private bench. It was very much out of ear shot from the very few people still walking along the boardwalk.

Once they reached the bench, Lois pushed him down to take a seat. She sat right next to him and took a deep breath. "This is a long one, so bear with me."

He looked down at her shaky hands. Her heart was giving a different kind of beat. She was nervous. He reached over and placed his hand over one of hers. His thumb caressed the back of her wrist. He heard the beating of her heart slow down, almost to a calm.

She took another swallow and took a deep breath before looking into his eyes again. "I was in this relationship for over six months. The General was stationed back here in the States and for the first--and _only_ time--he signed me up to one of the best ivy schools in the country. Most of the kids there were stuck up and rude. They all came from wealthy families and thought they were above everyone else. The education was great there, but those kids were a pain in the neck. Anyways, it was almost the end of semester and I was very much behind. Finals were a good three weeks away, and I needed to put my happy butt in gear. So, I was in the library, studying my ass off and worrying about how in the hell I was going to get all of this done when the sweetest guy comes up to me…"

-----------

"_Looks like you can use a little help," his deep voice said._

_I was startled and jumped off from my chair. I turn and find this tall, dark, and handsome looking dude smiling down at me with a million dollar smile. It was enough to make me melt right there in my seat._

_I smiled up at him, "I think I'm being given more than I can chew."_

_He gave me a low chuckle and sat right next to me. "These teachers have mercy for no one. There was a girl last year who lost both her parents in the middle of the semester and the teachers wouldn't allow her to make up any of the tests. All of her family was part of the law enforcement and always gave so much to the school. But once they were gone, so did their importance to the school."_

_I shook my head in disgust. "How horrible."_

_He nodded. "Tell me about it. She was one of the very few sweet girls left in this school. While everyone else here was fake, she wasn't."_

"_What became of her?" I asked, curiously. I had always had a nose and wanted to know every truth, even about people I did not know personally._

_He gave a slight shrug. "She was in and out of school a lot. The dean finally got sick of it and kicked her out."_

"_But she was only a kid."_

"_Her parents had left her enough money. Plus, she was eighteen--legal--at the time."_

"_What happened to her?" I asked._

_He shrugged. "I haven't heard of Dinah since."_

_I shook my head, saddened by the news._

_He thought for a minute and frowned. "How you got me to tell you all of that information is beyond me. I don't open much to people."_

_I gave him one of my charming smiles. "Guess I have a gift."_

"_And a nose," he teased._

_It was my turn to shrug. "It's a talent."_

_He gave a snicker. "So, if you're done asking me a million and one questions, you want me to help you out with all this junk?" He motioned towards the scattered books and papers throughout my desk. "I'm done with mine already. And I have nothing to do for the rest of the weekend."_

_I chuckled. "Sure. That'd be great."_

_He smiled at me and began to dig in to my work._

_Then, it had occurred to me, I had yet to introduce myself. "Oh, I'm Lois Lane." I extended my hand to his._

_He took it into his firm grip and shook it. "Bruce Wayne."_

* * *

**NOTE**: So, I know that in the comics Bruce Wayne and Lois Lane actually dated before Lois and Clark did. I wanted to incorporate that into SV. Plus, I think it works well with Lois' "hero complex." LOL. I mean, she's already dated Green Arrow and had a small fling with Aquaman in SV, so I figured: what the hell. Give her Batman as well. hahaha Plus, I don't know if y'all remember that issue from the comics where Lois kissed all those superheroes to make Superman jealous, and it played into my idea here very well. Now, _**my**_ SV Lois has kissed Batman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow as well. ;D

Oh, and did you catch that small part about Dinah? Hehehehehe. I figured I could give a little small back story as to what pushed Dinah into her calling.

Alright. I will put up the next chapter in the next several days. I have it mostly finished, I just wanted to see the response of people. I'm not sure if I'm gonna put everything in one chapter of have it be at least three chapters. It's for sure not going to be more than three.


	2. One with the Night

**PARING**: Clois; Lois and Lois/Bruce

**NOTES**: Thanks for the reviews everyone. They're MUCH appreciated. Driver Picks the Music! You're my long-lasting fan! Since my first material with Jackie and Hyde! LOL! Thanks for all the reviews in almost every single piece I've written!

**TIMELINE**: **PRE**-"Disciple" (9x10), **POST**-"Pandora" (9x09). No worries. There's no real spoilers, in case you haven't seen the new episode yet.

**DISCLAIMER**: I DO NOOOOOOOT own ANYTHING…just a VERY proud obsession. :D

**SIDENOTES**: Again, the _italics _part is Lois telling the story in her perspective.

* * *

"We became real quick friends. We didn't have any classes together, but we made up for it during lunch," Lois continued on with her story about her encounter with Bruce Wayne.

Clark frowned at the name. Something about it rang a bell, like he had heard it before and _should_ know who that was. However, before he could further think into it, something else she said caught his attention more. "What do you mean _made up for it_?" He was afraid to ask.

Lois gave him one of her teasing smiles as she gave a dark chuckle in the dark. "Lets just say that friendship for us wasn't sufficient."

He took a deep swallow as his jaw clenched a bit. "Meaning…?"

She pursed her lips and cocked her head to the side, giving him one of her suggestive looks. "Use your imagination."

He gave a slight awkward nod. "Right." Another question wished to flow from his mouth, but he kept it inside.

"Spill it, Clark." Lois demanded.

Clark sighed. He should have known that Lois would have noticed his look. She was the person that knew him best and knew that something was on his mind that he wasn't telling her about. He could not get out of it and she wouldn't stop badgering him until he let it out. "It's none of my business. But, I'm curious."

She nodded and gave him a look that told him to continue on.

"Well…did you become serious or was it just a fling?"

He wanted to know almost everything about her past relationships for the simple reason that it would help him grow more perspective on why she was so skittish with theirs.

Lois now had a look on her face that told her she was thinking about how to word her answer. This wasn't very good. Lois was all about instinct.

She turned to Clark and must have noticed his now worried look because she responded with, "I honestly don't know. At first, for me, it was just a fling. Making out. Having fun. But somewhere along the line, in the two months that we were friends…it became more to me. Not only did I have a true friend that I could rely on, but all these sort of new feelings were surfacing. I can't explain it, but every time I was around Bruce, it felt like--ugh. I don't know. He was real quiet and kept himself away from others, but with me it was different. We laughed and talked and had fun. He just had this essence that couldn't be denied. Powerful, intimidating, important, strong, and it just drew me in. Before I knew it, I fell for him."

He nodded, understanding. At times that's how he felt towards Lois. As if he had no will power of his own and his emotions took over whenever she was around. He turned to Lois and said, "Continue."

She took a deep breath, reading herself for the continuation of her story.

---------------

_After two months of being…_friends_, I found myself being invited a lot over to his home. His parents had died when he was younger, so he had a legal guardian, Alfred. Alfred didn't like me at first, I don't think. I think my bold and direct personality gave off fire alarms. He didn't think I was fit for Master Bruce. But in time, he just came to get used ot me. Kept calling me Miss Lane._

_"Al, if it were anyone else calling me that, I'd sock them right in the mouth," I would always tell Alfred right after he would welcome me._

_He would smile sweetly at me, looking cute as a button in his working suit. "Glad that I'm special, Miss Lane."_

_I would always smile back. "Don't you forget it."_

_Anyway, Bruce and I spent most of our after school time over in his backyard. I mostly sneaked out of my house at night. Everything we did was always at night. We goofed around and shared some pretty personal stuff. He was the first I really ever confided in about my mom's death._

"_How old were you?" asked Bruce as he handed me his cigarette._

_Yes, Smallville. This was back when I smoked. I took the bud and inhaled. "Too young. Not having her around has made things be pretty difficult. I have to fill in the role for both Daddy and Lucy. Be more of a mother than a teenager. Organize trips, help with homework, choose the right suits for the right occasions, plan everyone's schedule for the week." I took another drag. "It's made me grow up faster than I would have liked. More responsibilities to take on. But, you gotta do what you gotta do."_

_Bruce stared off into the distance. "Yeah."_

_I turned to him and for the first time since I met him, I saw it. There in his eyes, there was vulnerability. Sadness. Overwhelming tiredness. Although, I always kept in mind that he had lost his parents at a very early age, I hadn't noticed until that moment how much it was affecting him emotionally._

_He turned slowly to me, possibly because he could feel me staring. I met his deep blue eyes and we just stared at each other. Neither of us said a word. Through our eyes, we were saying plenty. We showed how vulnerable and scared we were on the inside. We both let out to this tough exterior, but it was a lie. An image we wished others to believe of us. It's easier to be stronger than to be fragile. And we had always refused to let others see us as so._

_He was the first one I felt a connection to. We both had lost parents and were taking in responsibilities because of it. I think it was at that moment, that my feelings for him deepened more. Our connection was stronger and I knew at that moment that I didn't want to let it go. I finally had found someone like me._

"_Wanna take a ride?" He asked me, interrupting the silence._

_I nodded, not being able to say a word._

_He stood up and began to walk towards his garage. He took his keys from his pockets and got behind his motorcycle._

_I had never been in one. And Daddy would have my head if he ever found out about it. And as soon as that thought came into my mind, I immediately hopped in behind Bruce, encircling my arms around his waist._

_I felt the engine come to life; felt the vibrations beneath my feet. My heart rate quickened and suddenly, I felt the air swift over my hair._

_Freedom._

_--------_

Clark was doing his best not to imagine his girlfriend sitting behind some maniac on some motorcycle. The thought of it just made his hand change into a fist. Once again he was thankful it was too dark for Lois to see. He didn't want her to think he was getting possessive of her.

"That had really been your first time behind a motorcycle?" Clark asked, curiously. "Knowing you, I thought you would have done that since age 13."

Lois gave him a look. "Ha-ha," she said without any humor in her voice. "I had always been pretty bold, but Bruce just kicked it to the limits. I guess the connection we shared allowed us to be more free. From what I got from the other students from school, Bruce was pretty well mannered. He had his temper, but it wasn't until he met me that his darker side came out."

He didn't want to ask, so Clark looked away.

"Smallville…" Her tone almost made him cringe.

He really needed to stop wanting to keep his mouth shut and just say what was on his mind. She knew every time he wanted to say something anyway. And he couldn't keep much secrets from her anyway, so why even try?

He turned to her. "What other things did you do? The most wild?"

Lois' eyes lit up. A chuckle came from her mouth.

He let out a sigh. Why did he have to ask?

_------------------_

_It was Senior Prom. Bruce never asked me and I never asked him, but we ended up being each other's dates. I did it behind Daddy's back. I didn't want him getting to know Bruce at all. I knew he wouldn't approve and there was no way I was going to stop seeing Bruce._

_So, I sneaked out of the house, Lucy was in bed and had no idea and Daddy was having a late meeting with the Secretary of State. I had faked a flu and was able to get ready without his knowledge._

_Bruce was waiting for me in his motorcycle about a block away._

_Once I saw him in view, I could feel his eyes on my dress. "How I'd love to slip inside that dress myself," he said teasingly._

_I chuckled. "Don't you wish." I looked down to his motorcycle. "What? No limo?"_

_He gave a shrug. "'Fraid not."_

"_You're a cheap date." Suddenly an idea was now planted on my head. I gave him a smile._

_He frowned. "What?"_

_I smiled. "Take me over to the base. I'm gonna find us a better vehicle."_

_He shook his head. "Something tells me I'm gonna love this." He put on his helmet and I rode with him._

_When we got to the base, it took a little longer than I expected to get what I wanted. Bruce didn't do much, he just kept an eye on things as I worked my magic._

---------

"What did you do?" Clark looked down at Lois with suspicious eyes.

She smiled sweetly at him.

----------

_I drove into the parking lot, Bruce on the passenger side. Dozens of eyes on the M1 Abrams tank that I was rolling in. The look on their faces was priceless. And when we both got out? Even better._

_Whispers were all around us, some thought we were the highlight of the party, others criticized us and looked down on us, and others went off to snitch. But I didn't care. I knew the General was going to be mad as hell, but for that night I just wanted to have a good time. For the first time, I wanted to do everything I wanted without thinking much of the consequences. Everything from then on out was going to surround instinct._

_We were only there for a little less than an hour when I heard commotion. Murmurs that my father had been notified about what I had done and was now coming here surrounded us. I grabbed Bruce's hand and we took off out of there._

_------------------_

"What did you do for the remainder of the night?" Clark asked.

Lois shrugged. "Just laughed about the whole thing. We walked around the city at night and just hung out. It was a perfect night--oh, if you don't count the muggers."

Clark's eyes popped open. "Muggers?"

Lois nodded. "Yeah. Things there in Gotham were starting to get more and more dangerous. That night, these five guys jumped us. Thankfully, Bruce and I held our own. I took on two of the guys and he took the other three. We left there just as we saw some cops coming our way. We let them handle the rest."

Clark shook his head. Leave it to Lois. Even back then she got herself into messes. It amazed him how much trouble she got into.

Lois gave him a sock in the arm. "I know what you're thinking, Smallville, so don't. It's just coincidence."

It was his turn to give her a look. "Danger is pretty attracted to Lois, or the other way around. I'm still not sure yet."

She grunted. "Are you going to allow me to continue with my story or not?"

He rolled his eyes. "You're going to anyways, whether I say yes or no."

* * *

"_Tell me one thing," I asked him. We had been walking around all day, that when we came to the park, we decided to just lay down on the grass and look at the stars. We hadn't said a word for quite some time._

"_What's that?" came his deep voice. It sounded as if the wind was the one speaking. As if he belonged to it in some way._

"_Anything. Something you haven't told anyone."_

_There was silence for a moment. I was sure he had decided to not say a word and just ignore my question._

_However, I heard the wind speak again. "I feel like I belong."_

_I frowned at this and turned to him slightly. I could barely make him out. "What do you mean? Belong to what?"_

"_This." I could make the silhouette of his hand motioning in the air._

"_What?" I wasn't getting it._

"_The night. I hate the day. Hate the bright colors. The sun. The blue sky. It's all fake. A complete lie. Nothing in this world holds any light." His voice was so low that I could barely hear him._

_I didn't want to say a word, just wanted to allow him to continue without any interruptions. Because even though his words were confusing me, at the same time I understood what he was saying._

_As every word spilled out of his mouth, his voice grew deeper. "I prefer darkness. While everything at night can be dark, the moon shines bright above us, spreading in just enough light to create shadows. You can hide behind them. Can move undetectably. They're liars as well, but they're not lying about it. Unlike the day."_

_I stared up at the black sky above us. Its twinkling lights shown as brightly as they could. With a big city like Gotham, it was pretty difficult for stars to be seen perfectly._

_I repeated his words over and over in my head. They didn't bring me any kind of warm comfort, but they brought clarity. Up until that point, for most of my life I had been living a lie myself. With my mother having died when I was very young, I had continued on and put a front for everyone to see. I had enjoyed the day because it brought a positive hope. That everything was going to be ok. However, there I was with Bruce, more than a decade after the passing of my mother and nothing was ok. My emptiness was still there._

_For several minutes more not a word was said. Until he spoke again. "Tell me something."_

_He snapped me out of my thinking. I didn't know what he meant by it. "What?"_

_He gave a low chuckle. "Anything. Something you haven't told anyone else," he echoed my past words._

_As I stared up at the dark sky, I said the first truth that came to mind, "I feel alone." The moment those words spilled out of my mouth, tears made their way into my eyes. "I feel like there is no one to depend on but myself. Everyone always ends up leaving me once I trust them. My mother. She couldn't fight off the sickness and just gave up. Daddy commits his entire time to his job. As if nothing ever happened. He always leaves and I'm left to take care of everything by myself. And Lucy…every time I have her close to me, its cut short. She leaves to another private school overseas. And I'm alone again."_

_The tears that were now coming down had been kept inside of me for many years and now that I had finally let them out, they were not stopping. They spilled out of me, as if they too now had freedom. I didn't try holding them back anyway. There in the dark, no one could see how fragile I was. And I felt the same as Bruce. I welcomed the night. It gave me comfort. And he was a part of it. I allowed the tears to flow out of me. I didn't make any noise._

_Suddenly, I felt an arm embrace me. "I won't leave you, Lois." Bruce's arm grew tightly against me, pulling me towards his broad chest._

_I didn't say a word. I just crawled into him and closed my watery eyes, his words echoing in my head. _I won't leave you_. It had been the first time in a long time I allowed the following to happen…. I believed him._

_

* * *

_

* * *

**NOTE: **Sorry, it took me a while to continue on with this. Much apologies. But hoped you guys liked it. Alright, off to write the next piece. Just two more chapters more to go. I have them outlined, I just have to invest time on it. LOL


	3. Trusted and Crumpled

**PARING**: Clois and Lois/Bruce Wayne

**NOTES**: SOOOOORRRY for the LOOOONG absence in this story. I just had other ideas pop in my head and I couldn't stop from writing them. I promise, I will NOT work on anything else here on FF until I have this story DONE! There's just this chapter and another and then it's FINISHED. :D

**TIMELINE**: **PRE**-"Disciple" (9x10), **POST**-"Pandora" (9x09). No worries. There's no real spoilers, in case you haven't seen the new episode yet.

**DISCLAIMER**: I DO NOOOOOOOT own ANYTHING…just a VERY proud obsession. :D

**SIDENOTES**: Again, the _italics _part is Lois telling the story in her perspective.

….

Clark continued to sit there, letting it all sink in. By the tone Lois carried in her when talking about Bruce, he could tell that she had held deep feelings for the dark, mysterious man and Clark couldn't help but feel jealous over it and angry at the same time. He knew the feelings Lois had towards this Bruce were long gone-a thing of the past. But the thought of anyone touching her heart and making a mark in it made him fluster a bit. The mark Bruce had left on Lois was not a good one. He had broken it. The thought of anyone hurting Lois in any sort of way made Clark want to pound them, but more than anything, made him hurt for Lois. As she told this story, he could feel every emotion coming from Lois' voice. She meant her tone to come off as casual-as if this story had no affect on her now-but she failed. Clark knew her and could tell that this story still put holes in her heart. A heart he so desperately wanted to fix.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He could hear her smiling. He didn't know how he was amusing her. Maybe she could tell that he was getting a little judgmental of this Bruce fellow.

He turned to her and sure enough found her grinning at him. He gave her a glare. "Just continue on."

She chuckled a bit, but did as he asked.

_I don't think we slept that night at all. We just talked and talked. Laughed. I hadn't laughed that way ever and something told me that Bruce hadn't either. He was so different when we were alone, in the dark. He felt more comfortable for some reason. Maybe because it was the fact that no one could see his face-see he was hurting. He put on many shields in front of people. I only saw some of those shields be brought down a little with Alfred. With anyone else, he was always on guard. Everyone except for me._

_Anyway, when I got home the next day Daddy was fuming. He demanded to know how I'd gotten tank to prom, saying that the Pentagon was threatening to take away everything he'd work for if I didn't spill the beans. Ha! I knew better. After living so close to Daddy and seeing how everyone around him idolized him and praised him, I knew that either he was lying to me or the Pentagon was bluffing. Daddy's too much of value._

_I was grounded, of course. And he refused to let me leave the house unless I told him the truth. He had guards standing right by my bedroom door and right beneath my window._

Clark saw the smirk that he knew all too well spread across Lois' face. The smirk that she made whenever she was met with a challenge that she knew she could get out of easily. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

She frowned at him. "What?"

He smirked as well. "You slipped by them."

Her smirk came back. "Nothing stops Lois Lane."

_It wasn't easy, but not difficult at all. It just took a phone call to distract them and get them away from the door for just 30 seconds. Once I got away from the guards at the bedroom door, I sneaked into Daddy's office. He had a door there that led to the side of the house. I jumped the fence to the next door neighbor's in less than a minute._

_I gave a call to Bruce and he picked me up. For the remainder of the day we spent it on the bank. Held hands. He wrapped his arm around my waist. I had never had that before. A boyfriend that treated me that way. As if I meant a great deal to him. It felt nice. I almost felt normal and stronger. Like nothing was going to happen to us._

_It was getting dark when we headed over to his mansion. Daddy was looking for me and we knew that if Alfred were to have seen me there, he would have called Daddy and told him my whereabouts. So, we sneaked in to Bruce's room and stayed as quiet as possible. If Alfred were to have known that Bruce was there, he would know that I was with him._

_His bedroom walls are made of this sort of steel that make it almost impossible for anyone to hear what's happening in that room, so we didn't have to keep _very_ quiet. We watched a bit of TV and laid down on his big bed. One thing led to another. Before I knew it, there he was on top of me. Kissing the daylights out of me._

_He had his own flavor. Spicy, fiery, zesty. There was almost no sweet taste. Dangerous was all I could think of when I kissed him. He was a bad boy and it felt like it every time he touched me._

_It was getting pretty heated. Clothes were starting to come off. That's when he pulled away from me and looked at me for a while. "Are you sure?"_

_Butterflies were flying all across my stomach. I clung to him. "Yes."_

_He kissed me gently, almost lovingly and continued._

_I have to say: that night was the best one of my teenage years. I felt as if I was somewhere that I could belong, with him. All my life I was out of place, but there in his arms, I almost didn't feel that way. It was sweet._

_Anyway, there we were. His arm around my shoulders and me snuggling close to him. I felt so…giddy. And I before I could think, I let it slip. "I could stay like this forever." It felt right to say it. I thought he felt the same because he didn't say anything._

_His finger rubbed lightly on my shoulder and I felt asleep._

A small smile spread across her face, as if she was remembering the sweet memory. But just as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. Something told Clark that this was the last smile this story had.

"What happened in the morning?" Clark asked gently.

She didn't meet his eyes, but continued.

_He woke up before me. When I was up, he wasn't there. I got up and began to look around for him. He wasn't in the room. I tried his cell, nothing. I thought maybe he was downstairs getting breakfast or something like it. But half an hour passed and he wasn't coming._

_I started to worry, thinking something must have happened. I put on my clothes and did my best in not making noise as I left the room. I didn't want Alfred catching me. I was very careful. I checked every room I could, clues to where he might be. But every room was empty. No one in them. There's five floors in that mansion. More than a dozen rooms and he wasn't in any of them. I had been looking for almost an hour and still had no sign of him. I checked his room again, but it didn't seem as if anyone had gone in there after I had left._

_I went to the first floor and decided to check the one room that I had always been told by him never to enter. He claimed it was his parents' old bedroom and he was quite protective of it. He was serious when he told me it was off limits, but I was getting anxious. And worried. So…. I broke the one rule._

_I got to the door. Saw that it was locked and began to pick it. It wasn't difficult at all. I had it opened within a minute. Once I opened it though, I saw an empty bedroom. Nothing in sight._

_I then got a little noisy. And started to look around to see if there was some other door. There was a bathroom. I went in and nothing. I was about to turn and leave when I something caught my eye. The sink looked detached from the wall. There was an inch of gap between the sink and wall. It was weird because it wasn't draining water or anything. And I knew exactly what it was. I had moved around in a lot of households and Daddy was always sure to have this in the houses we stayed in. He always thought I never knew of them, but I did. I saw him use them._

Clark frowned. "What was it?" He had his suspicions, but wasn't sure.

Lois met his eyes and cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "What do you think?"

He knew she knew what he thought it was. "Passage door?"

She gave a slight nod.

_I put my finger in and pulled on the gap. The wall began to move. Once it was big enough for me to slip in, I did. I closed it as much I could and went into the dark room. Took out my cell phone and lit my way down the secret hall. After several steps, I began to hear moaning, grunting. It was Bruce. I hurried, thinking he was in danger._

_I could see light finally, another room. I ran as fast as I could. I got into the room and noticed that it was some sort of gym. Mats were laid across the room. Weapons-a _lot _of them were hung all across the walls. In the middle of this gym room was Bruce. Boxing. Alfred._

Clark frowned. Why would a teenage boy be fighting with his butler. "Was he hurting Alfred?"

Lois shook her head.

_He looked fine. It was mainly Bruce boxing and Alfred holding up a mat._

_They saw me and I felt like a complete fool. "I-I'm sorry. I was looking for you-"_

"_What the hell are you doing here?" Bruce began to walk towards me, aggressively._

_Alfred looked like a ghost._

"_I'm sorry. I didn't know where you were."_

"_Get out." He sounded like a menace._

_It threw me off. "What?"_

"_Get out!" He grabbed my arm. It hurt._

_I pushed him off me. "Hey! What's your problem?"_

"_Get out, I said!"_

"_I only came because I was worried about you!" I wanted him to know that I hadn't done so on purpose._

"_Well, I'm fine. So leave." He got me to the entrance door._

_I just looked up at him. His eyes didn't look the same._

"_What?" he demanded._

_I swallowed. "You weren't there."_

_I knew he knew what I meant by it. I wanted him to know that it had hurt that he hadn't been there. That was the reason why I had come looking._

_His eyes were cold as he stared at me. "And? I didn't want to be there. I thought you'd take the hint and leave."_

_It felt like someone had punched me right in the gut. "Bruce…."_

"_It's done, Lois."_

_It confused me, not understanding what he meant that by. "What do you mean? What's done?"_

"_This," he said as he motioned towards both our bodies. "I'm done with __**this**__. I don't want it anymore. Anything to do with you, I don't want it."_

_I felt like barfing. I was sick to my stomach and I didn't know what do to. I wanted to sock the shit out of him, but I wanted to run as well._

_As I was looking into this icy eyes, the latter won and I stormed out._

She let out a sigh. "And that's the last I ever heard of Bruce Wayne."

"You never tried to get a hold of him again? To get an answer why he was such a jerk?" asked Clark gently. This still hurt her and he wished he could do something to fix that.

She shook her head slightly.

He frowned. That just didn't sound like Lois. "Why?"

She gave him a small smile. "That afternoon, after a long walk back home and me crying my eyes out, Daddy told me about Chloe's so-called murder. My heartbreak was forgotten and I invested all of my emotion on her. She mattered more than he did. Nothing about her so-called murder made sense to me, so I went into investigating mode. One clue led to another and I got a hold of the tape she made for me-the one that said to come and find you if anything were to happen to her. You know the rest of the story." She let out a sigh and Clark couldn't help but notice how she looked as if she had just taken a load off of her shoulders.

He knew this had to be difficult for her. Lois kept her emotions in check. The secrets that hurt her were buried deep in her and she refused to let them make a surface.

"After Bruce, it's hard to trust myself in a relationship. I blame myself for it failing. He was a bad boy who wasn't serious about anything. I should have known I was getting too heavy for him."

"It's not your fault, Lois. He-"

She raised a hand, stopping him. "Save it, Clark. I'm right. I used to jump too fast into relationships. It's the truth. Which is why I can't do that to you. I want to do this step by step so I don't have a chance to screw things over."

Clark shook his head at her.

…..

**NOTE: **I made a promise to myself that I would NOT post this chapter up unless the last chapter was completed as well. So, that being said the final piece is also done, but I won't be posting it up until a couple of more days later. REVIEW, please!


	4. I Will Believe Again

**PARING**: Clois

**NOTES**:

**TIMELINE**: **PRE**-"Disciple" (9x10), **POST**-"Pandora" (9x09).

**DISCLAIMER**: I own no characters, plots, locations-NADA!

**THANK YOUS**: Driverpicksthemusic! Thanks for the reviews as always. I always love reading them! Special thanks to B. Davis, Kairan1979, Tiger83, and PrincessBella15 for the multiple/long analytical reviews! LOL. Also to Cazzam, batgirl2992, Louise, dnzrsy, Mango517, Vita4Amore, and supesfan18. Thank you for giving another story of mine a chance.

Lois was staring at the pavement. She couldn't look up right now. She was too worried of what she would see in Clark's eyes. Pity? Despair? Disappointment? She had wanted to tell Clark the whole story-wanted him to know everything about her. But she was too damn scared that one of her deep secrets would cause him to leave. Or that her deep feelings for him would destroy what they had just started. Hell, she had known she loved Clark for close to two years and it wasn't until recently that she knew _**he**_ cared about _**her**_. She didn't believe it was love he felt for her. She knew he liked her-a lot-and probably had for only a short while. The feelings he started to have for her probably didn't start until after he came back from his long absence, after visiting some family far away from Kansas. Although it hurt that he didn't feel the same for her as she felt for him, she was happy for it.

Any sort of feeling he had for her she would take. As long as they remained friends and he would never leave her side was all she cared about. It was wishful thinking for her to imagine any bright future for the both of them. She was a handful to deal with. She knew this and couldn't blame any of her exes for giving up on her. She wouldn't hold it against Clark if he decided to join the Lets Leave Lois Group. But something told her that she wouldn't ever move on from Clark ever leaving her. Yes, she would suck it up and grow stronger from it, but she would never be the same again.

"Lois." Clark's voice was stern and sounded a bit annoyed.

She turned to him, readying herself for whatever his reaction might be.

The moment she met his baby blues, her breath got caught. A knot on her throat appeared.

He placed his hands on her shoulders and said with his eyes looking right into her brown, green ones, "I'm not them, Lois."

A tear threatened to come down. "I know. That's what makes me more worried. The fact that they don't come _**close**_ to you makes it harder for me. Because if I couldn't keep _**them**_around, how can I hold on to _**you**_?" She forced herself not to look away. She knew she was sounding weak, but she didn't care. For some reason, she felt comfortable enough to be this way around Clark. She wasn't ready to show him all of her, but little by little he was pulling it out of her whether she felt ready or not.

Clark shook his head. "It's not that you couldn't _**keep**_ themaround, it's that they couldn't keep _**up**_ with you." He snickered. "You challenged every one of them, for whatever reason and they saw parts of you that scared them. You're strong-minded, courageous, fearless, successful, determined, brilliant-I can go on and on."

Lois gave a small chuckle. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered. Hearing Clark give a list of her great qualities gave fuel to proof that he really cared for her.

Clark didn't skip a beat. He continued talking. "_**They**_ couldn't keep up with that. You know very well how to intimidate people, Lois. Plus, you're stubborn and hard-headed and persistent, so that gives them the perfect excuse to leave-because you have faults."

She gave a slight nod. She knew of her faults. Knew that her passion for life-her job-was what drove others away.

Clark gave her a small smile, his baby blues making her heart ignite. "But it's your faults that make you human. They make you real. If you didn't have them, I'd think you were just some imagination. Plus, its your faults that make you quite sexy." He gave her an evil grin and leaned in to her.

She couldn't believe what she had just heard Clark Kent just say to her. He had just called her sexy! When did her polite Smallville become such a-

His tongue entered mouth, deepening their kiss. She forgot all her thinking and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tighter against her. From deep within her she heard a noise. It sounded like a moan and growl. She'd never heard herself give out that noise before.

She felt his hands come to her waist. His fingers dug deep into her skin.

They were lucky they were in such a secluded area. It was completely pitch black and no one could see them.

He brought his hand to the back of her head, his fist catching hair.

The noise inside her came to life again.

He began to pull away and gave her a small peck. He stared deep into her eyes.

Her head was dizzy and that look he was giving her was not helping at all.

Clark rubbed his fingertips across her cheek. "I'm not going anywhere, Lane. You're stuck with me."

She felt her arms begin to tingle. Hundreds of goosebumps broke through her arms, legs, and chest. She knew the feeling by now. Had come to recognize it over the course of the last year or so. She loved him. And every time she felt her body shiver the way she was now, she fell deeper in love with him.

She stared up at him, her mind in wonder of him. She took a deep breath and let herself to trust again. She had closed her heart so many times before in the past, but Clark somehow had squirmed his way in there and was planting himself. Something told her that he wasn't going to try to leave; on the contrary, he seemed more of a fighter than the rest.

Yes, she was going to believe in Clark Kent. In everything of him.

….

**NOTE**: So, that's it for this story. I'm gonna be off writing the last piece of "The Long Engagement" and then after that I'll be sort of "free" and will be able to write other stories. REVIEW REVIEW!

Oh, and **Happy "****Eclipse****" **everyone! :D


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